Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

Unboxing Time: Product Samples From Wu-Mu

Unboxing Time: Product Samples From Wu-Mu

Got a big and heavy box of samples today in the mail! Miles immediately decided it was his and thought he should play ‘king of the hill’ and be on top of it. Luckily, the box was very sturdy and so no harm done. Let’s crack this box open and have as look inside to see what we’ll be sampling for Meet The Manufacturer: Wu-Mu! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Interview With Wu-Mu

#2851: Vedan Jhen Mian Tang Dry Noodles With Basil

#2666: Vedan Jhen Mian Tang Dry Noodles With Basil - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater

Here’s one sent by a fellow named Jay from Taiwan – thanks! I did see these and another variety at Uwajimaya in Beaverton, OR on our way back from California a couple of months ago. So these are dry noodles. Dry noodles are prepared by cooking, draining, then adding sauce and stirring. Pretty easy to do. These sound interesting – basil! Let’s have a look and give these a try. ...see full post

Restaurant: #2848: Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya – Shio Ramen – Bellevue Square

Restaurant: #2848: Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya - Shio Ramen - Bellevue Square

Thanks as always to Aunt Cindy for watching our rugrats and giving us an fternoon out ! It’s been awhile – last time we had an outing just us was around review #2761 – another ramen restaurant – in December! Further back we went to Hokkaido Santouka in Bellevue, WA and people there as well as at the mall mentioned this Kizuki place. So this time we thought we’d give it a try. ...see full post

#2846: myramen Japanese Vegan Noodle & Soup Salt

#2846: myramen Japanese Vegan Noodle & Soup Salt

Here’s one that’s new to me – my ramen. my ramen is a range of Japanese instant ramen that are Vegan, HALAL, animal free, dairy free, shellfish free, fish free, alcohol free, and dairy free. That’s a lot of bases covered. I was very happy to say that the miso variety they produce is very good – and now we try the Salt variety. This is what is usually known as Shio ramen – here’s a little about Shio from Wikipedia – ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2018 Edition

The Ramen Rater's Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2018 Edition

It’s time for another top ten list and this time it’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2018 Edition! The first list debuted in 2013 – I can’t believe this is the sixth list! As always – if you are a company who would like me to review your products, please contact me via the contact link – I want to talk to you! These are my favorite instant noodle bowl selections from my over 2800 reviews to date. Let’s get started! ...see full post

#2845: LeeZen Hot & Sour Instant Noodles

#2748: LeeZen Hot & Sour Instant Noodles

Found this one up at Hen Long Market up in Canada recently. It was kind of spendy, actually and I remember seeing they had a miso variety too. These are made in Taiwan by Chering Chang- I had a little trouble figuring out what the brand was/what they’re called, but on a bar code search I found them on a Vegan website, so I’m guessing they may be Vegan friendly. Anyways, let’s take a look and give these a try! ...see full post

#2844: Vedan Jhen Mian Tang Dry Noodles With Soy Bean Sauce

#2844: Vedan Jhen Mian Tang Dry Noodles With Soy Bean Sauce

With the advent in the popularity of the Taiwanese dry noodles sector, larger companies have entered the fray. For those of your that don’t know, dry noodles basically are noodles with a sauce – dry meaning that they do not include a broth. They’re also not fried but either air or sun dried.  They’re gaining popularity – let’s have a look at this mainstream Taiwanese brand’s take on a standard dry noodle variety. ...see full post

#2841: Nissin Ramen Shop Asahikawa Shoyu Ramen

#2841: Nissin Ramen Shop Asahikawa Shoyu Ramen

Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘Asahikawa, a city in Hokkaido, is famous for its ‘ramen village’ and has its own regional ramen like many other cities in Japan. You don’t have to fly all the way to this old city in winter because Asahikawa will come to your warm, cozy home with this tasty version of shoyu ramen.’ Sounds interesting – let’s hit it! ...see full post

#2840: Samyang Foods Potato Ramen

#2840: Samyang Foods Potato Ramen

Spud noodles! I’ve liked pretty much every potato noodle variety I’ve tried. Potatoes are a good way to increase the chewiness of noodles in a pretty inexpensive way. Potatoes are pretty easy to produce I’m guessing – just find some land and throw stuff in the ground and sooner or later – hey – potatoes. Well, let’s check this one out! ...see full post

#2838: Nissin Hot & Spicy Blazing Hot Flavor

#2838: Nissin Hot & Spicy Blazing Hot Flavor

Alright o as you all know (at least I think you all do), I do a Top Ten Spiciest list every year. I used to review hot sauces (did 250 of them on Saucerater), and do a series of YouTube videos called Spicy Noodle Mukbang on YouTube. So when a variety with a pepper gauge and mention of being XXtra hot crosses my desk, I’m interested. So let’s see if this one is truly as spicy as it certainly looks like it’s going to be. ...see full post

#2835: Da Long Yi Self Heating Hot Pot – Vegetable Version

#2835: Da Long Yi Self Heating Hot Pot - Vegetable Version

Alright – now if this isn’t something that doesn’t make you wanna check your head… So we went up to Canada yesterday. What was up there? This, the second one I’ve reviewed that has a little sachet that actually heats the bowl of noodles and cooks it. Where did I find it? I’m sure you’re thinking ‘oh some neat Asian grocery store.’ No. Hold onto your butts. My wife saw this one. At Walmart. Yeah. Walmart. The Walmart locations both in Richmond, BC and Vancouver, BC have decent noodle aisles with varieties from all over. It should be noted though that there’s a huge Asian population in this area – and so kind of makes sense in a demographic way. I mean, you certainly won’t see this near Walmart HQ in Bentonville, Arkansas…I thought it would be really cool if my son Andy got a chance to try and cook one of these. It should be fun! Glad we found it at Walmart – it was our last stop before heading back home. We go to Walmart every time we go to Canada. It’s really nice up there. Let’s cook this sucker up! ...see full post

#2834: Wei Lih Good Good Eat Mexican Spicy Flavor Noodle Snack

#2834: Wei Lih Good Good Eat Mexican Spicy Flavor Noodle Snack

Here’s another one I dragged back from Taiwan. I’ve tried a lot of these noodle snacks, but ones with Mexican flavor kind of have a special place in my heart. You see, the day my daughter Miri was born, I was up early in the morning and I thought I’d do a review. It was a Mexican snack noodle. My plan is to attempt to review something somewhat like it every year on her birthday. I can already see the confused look on her face as a teenager… Well, let’s crack this one open – by the way it’s a long ways until she has her birthday. ...see full post

#2832: Nissin Cup Noodle Curry Ramen Noodle Soup

#2832: Nissin Cup Noodle Curry Ramen Noodle Soup

Well, this was something that upon hearing about, made me extremely happy. Curry. From Nissin Foods America. I mean wow – this is something now made and available in the United States! How awesome is that? Not only this one, but the Seafood Cup Noodle is available too. They’ve changed the recipe a little and now have no artifical flavors and no MSG. Plus, you CAN MICROWAVE IT! Wow – pretty awesome! The lid says these are the #1 curry cup noodles in Japan. I’m going to go out on a limb and say these are the same for the United States as I do believe they’re the ONLY curry cup variety in the United States. So let’s see if these are good – I really, really hope they’re going to stick around for a while! ...see full post

#2830: Ve Wong Dried Instant Noodles Assorted Hot Chili Flavor

#2830: Ve Wong Dried Instant Noodles Assorted Hot Chili Flavor

Here’s another one I hauled back from the wonderful land called Taiwan. God, I love it there. It’s generally hot and sticky humid, but I don’t care – I would happily acclimate to live there. Anyways enough emoting over that wonderful place. This is a variety I found in RT-Mart, which is a gigantic grocery store I visited in Taipei. In fact, it’s an everything store. Let’s crack this open and see what we have in here. ...see full post

#2828: YumYum Tem Tem Tom Yum Seafood

#2757: YumYum Tem Tem Tom Yum Seafood

This one was sent to me by YumYum in December of 2017 – thank you! Nothing I like more than getting non-export versions of products. Why? Well, they’re more exotic to begin with. The non export varieties are the ones that can be found on store shelves in the country of origin. It’s not like I can walk down the street and go to a Thai grocery store in Thailand, so this is very helpful for me. Here’s a little about tom yum from Wikipedia – ...see full post

Unboxing Time: Zenpop Japan Ramen Tour Pack – May 2018

Zenpop Japan Ramen Tour Pack - May 2018 - Japan

So another month, another great box from Zenpop.jp, purveyors of Japanese neat things. They have ramen boxes, they have candy boxes, they have ramen and candy boxes, they have stationery boxes too! Lots of neat stuff to check out over there. Check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Let’s crack this box open and see what’s inside! ...see full post